Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Preparations for the Launch

week #9 entry #2 04/11-04/18: academic journal

This week I focused on this question:

How can I best prepare for the launch of driftwear.com?

In preparation for the launch, there was much to be done. I organized a pre-sale for all my models with a $5.00 off on the shirts that were worn from the shoot. Additionally, I offered $10 off any shirt that had been washed since the shoot. It was a huge success. I sold over fifteen shirts and my models rocked them in school before anyone else. It worked out very well to promote the launch. Aside from hanging paper boats around campus and making a promotional stop-animation, I came up with a new contest. I posted the question on both my blog and Facebook fan page. I e-mailed the school announcing the launch and posted daily updates on the driftwear fan page. I asked people to name the bear design and I would use their name in my shop. Over fifty people commented on the Facebook page and 16 people commented on my blog. It was amazing to see everyone's participation.

My art teacher, Marisol Diaz, hosted a giveaway on her blog in unison with the name-the-bear contest. The rules were that you had to comment on the driftwear blog/fan page, and leave a name for the bear. The lucky winner would be chosen at random and would win a limited edition bear shirt in one of four colors. More than twenty people entered the contest and a classmate of mine won.

Christopher Lo, my mentor, agreed to make a driftwear website. This was truly a great help to the professional look I sought with my project. I was able to link Etsy, an easy tool for selling items, along with a professional-looking website. I made some mock-ups for Chris to show him the kind of design I was looking for. However, I gave him artistic freedom because he has a great graphic eye. He did an amazing job! Check out his site!